可口可乐试水日本气泡酒市场Coke tries a drop of the hard stuff in Japan

After 125 teetotal years, Coca-Cola has decided to take the plunge and dabble with alcohol.

度过了滴酒不沾的125年后，可口可乐(Coca-Cola)决定冒险涉足酒类饮料业务。

The world’s biggest soft drinks company has chosen Japan to test its tolerance to the hard stuff by joining the growing Japanese market for “Chu-Hi” alcopops.

全球最大软饮料公司已选择在日本测试自己的“酒量”，它将加入日本日益增长的“Chu-Hi”气泡酒市场。

The gambit, which one senior Coke executive described as “unique in our history”, will propel the US company into a competitive arena dominated by Japanese brands such as Strong Zero, Highball Lemon and Slat.

Jorge Garduno, president of Coke’s Japanese division, said the plan to enter the market “makes sense” and was an example of how the company was exploring opportunities outside its core areas. “Coca-Cola has always focused entirely on non-alcoholic beverages, and this is [a] modest experiment for a specific slice of our market,” he said, adding that he did not think people around the world should expect to see similar innovations.

There are hundreds of flavours of Chu-Hi, a canned alcoholic drink made from a distilled beverage called shochu and sparkling water. The Japanese market for the vodka-like spirit — distilled from potatoes, rice, barley or sugar — has expanded almost 40 per cent since 2011.

Chu-Hi canned drinks mostly range in alcohol content between 3 and 8 per cent — a profile that has put them in competition with beer. The appeal of Chu-Hi has been enhanced by the relentless trial-and-error approach by major Japanese producers Kirin, Asahi, Takara and Suntory, which have released flavours that include yoghurt, acerola and wild basil.

The move into alcohol comes as Coca-Cola, like other big food groups, has faced shrinking sales in its core business: fizzy drinks. As a younger generation of consumers shun sugar, Coke has invested in products in faster-growing segments, such as water and tea.

James Quincey, Coke’s chief executive, said last month that the company had launched more than 500 new products in 2017. “We’re making innovations in Coke, innovations with flavours, innovations with ingredients all around the world . . . taking it into different categories than it was in before,” he said.